Mother” shepherd

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

“Mother” shepherd Easter, day 24

In our lifetime, millions of unborn children have been aborted because their lives would have been an inconvenience for their mothers. Today’s saint, St. Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962) is a contemporary of ours who, in her forty years of life was a Pediatric physician, a wife and a mother of 4 children. When she was in early pregnancy with her 4th. Child, it was found that she also had an tumor in her womb that was a threat to her life. The tumor was surgically removed and it was recommended that the child be taken also; but she insisted that the child be allowed to develop. Seven months later, the child, Gianna Emanuela, was born a healthy child. However, the following week, Gianna Beretta died of complications from the childbirth.

When she was preparing for marriage, she had written to her spouse-to-be, “Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women.” As a wife, she gave herself in love to her husband and as a mother, she gave herself in love for her child.

: “Gianna Beretta Molla was a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love…Following the example of Christ, who ‘having loved his own…loved them to the end’ [John 13:1], this holy mother of a family remained heroically faithful to the commitment she made on the day of her marriage. The extreme sacrifice she sealed with her life testifies that only those who have the courage to give of themselves totally to God and to others are able to fulfill themselves.” In his homily at the canonization Mass, St. Pope John Paul II

Today, in the gospel, Jesus continues to speak about shepherding. Gianna is another example of a “mother” shepherd who is willing to give her life for her “family” flock.